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(some music i got excited about this year...)
for comparison, last year's list was as follows:
1. idlewild, live.
2. idlewild, acoustic.
3. bloc party.
4. razorlight.
5. regina spektor.
6. sons and daughters.
7. inara george.
8. the boy lacks patience.
9. amplifico
10. joanna newsom
this year's list:
1. roddy woomble website / myspace - roddy woomble is the lead singer of idlewild, and i eagerly awaited his solo album. primarily a scottish folk-rock record, i worried that i might not like it as much as i hoped to, even though i planned to like it quite a bit. it turned out to be pretty much amazing. it came out in july, and it gets very frequent play. though it's a "folk" record, it's harder than say, kate rusby. it's folk in the way ani difranco is folk. (pre-jazz ani.) yes, it's folk, but there's a lot of rock in there. and there's just no beating roddy woomble's voice. my favorite track had been every line of a long moment, but at some point i think that got slightly edged out by my secret is my silence. both can be heard at the myspace page. my only regret is that i imagine i won't get to hear any of this album played live in the states.
2. south website / myspace -![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
loria turned us on to south last year, but it wasn't until i saw them live in april that they started to stick in my head beyond two songs (place in displacement and loosen your hold). but by the time october came round, south basically took over my life. ;P well, not quite. saw them once in april, three times in a week in october, and am thoroughly addicted. south is an incredibly versatile band, both in their material and each individual (they're all multi-instrumentalists), and the live experience is superb. plus, they're so bloody nice. i highly recommend their latest release, up close and personal as an intro to their music. everyone should be listening to these guys. everyone. what are you doing just sitting there? at least put them on in the background while you keep reading this entry.
3. the boy lacks patience website / myspace - last year my excitement was based on one song and two clips. early this year he released an album, which promptly made its way onto my ipod, my nighttime playlist (where it's stayed all year), and generally infiltrated my daily life. since mid-november (of *this* year), i've apparently played christopher john 159 times, for example. go to his website yourself and you can hear his lovely vocals, piano/keyboards, and strings in the background as well as a sweet backing vocalist. the boy lacks patience's songs are heavily influenced by a love of musicals. i've been addicted all year.
4. snow patrol website / myspace - i already liked snow patrol quite a bit. with the release of eyes open, i liked them even more. we had tickets to see them in june, but the show was postponed due to gary lightbody's problems with nodules. in the meantime, snow patrol was showing up everywhere. tv shows, movie soundtracks, and the like. the show was rescheduled for september, and it was worth the wait. i admit to being slightly sad that they've hit it so big, but they deserve the success.
5. margot and the nuclear so-and-sos website / myspace - this eight-member band from indiana opened for south in april. i was surprised by how much i liked them. guitars, two percussionists, keyboards, a cello, bass, and trumpet. their stuff is fantastic, and they deserve more attention. two of my favorites can be heard on their myspace: skeleton key and quiet as a mouse.
6. final fantasy (owen pallet) - myspace - i was reeled in by his covers of bloc party's this modern love and joanna newsom's peach, plum, pear. owen pallet is a violinist who played with arcade fire. he makes excellent use of looping in order to layer his solo playing. the result is lush, lush strings, and i'm pleasantly amused by his earnest vocals. i'm also in love with this is the dream of win and regine. he needs to do more. more, more, more. live video: this modern love
7. damien rice website / myspace - ok, damien snuck up on me. my boss lent me o two years ago, but for whatever reason it didn't take and i promptly forgot it. in november or so i downloaded damien covering radiohead's creep, and liked it. and then i downloaded snow patrol's gary lightbody covering damien's the blower's daughter and liked that. in the meantime,tenar was singing his praises. i checked out a few tracks from his recent release, 9, and ran out and bought it. and now i'm obsessed with it. for some reason he's stocked in folk, but again we've got someone who's quite a bit harder than that in most cases. a fantastic singer-songwriter, and i'm kicking myself for not going to see him live recently. my current song obsessions: coconut skins, rootless tree, me, my yoke, and i and 9 crimes. also, i'm currently enraptured by how different and yet interchangeable rootless tree and 9 crimes are. so. yes. my end of the year music obsession.
8. beecake myspace - beecake is the band billy boyd is in. i probably don't have to say more than that. ;) that being said, i'll be honest and say that if it weren't for billy boyd's vocals, i probably would never have gotten through the first two songs they had listed on myspace. (at the time, that was rip it up and kick the door). however, i really like friends and lovers on its own, and i think there's some promise in there for music i would really like. in fact, i like soul swimming quite a bit too. anyway, i'm excited about this, and i'm hoping they put out an album. go ahead and giggle at me. i don't mind.
honorable mentions go to:
9. r.e.m., who released retrospectivey stuff this year, and who had a few boots i was able to acquire recently. so my love for the old stuff is rekindled and i'm on a fresh r.e.m. kick.
10. the hold steady, who normally wouldn't be my thing, but i really love stuck between stations and modesto is not that sweet. i went to see them with my friend marc and had a good time.
and i'm excited because idlewild (website / myspace) has a new song out (if it takes you home) and there's an album on the way, as well as the poetry/music project ballads of the book. and please, please, please let there be a tour. i need an idlewild tour.
there's plenty of other stuff that i got turned on to, so i'll just list some songs that are currently getting frequent play outside of the folks listed above.
andrew bird - a nervous tic motion of the head to the left
anni rossi - creep (radiohead cover)
broken social scene - anthems for a seventeen year-old girl
tapes 'n tapes - cowbell
patrick wolf - paris
jude - crazy (gnarls barkley cover)
page france - spine
... also, i'm waiting for amplifico to put out their album, which is now something to be excited about for 2007, since it didn't happen in 2006.
for comparison, last year's list was as follows:
1. idlewild, live.
2. idlewild, acoustic.
3. bloc party.
4. razorlight.
5. regina spektor.
6. sons and daughters.
7. inara george.
8. the boy lacks patience.
9. amplifico
10. joanna newsom
this year's list:
1. roddy woomble website / myspace - roddy woomble is the lead singer of idlewild, and i eagerly awaited his solo album. primarily a scottish folk-rock record, i worried that i might not like it as much as i hoped to, even though i planned to like it quite a bit. it turned out to be pretty much amazing. it came out in july, and it gets very frequent play. though it's a "folk" record, it's harder than say, kate rusby. it's folk in the way ani difranco is folk. (pre-jazz ani.) yes, it's folk, but there's a lot of rock in there. and there's just no beating roddy woomble's voice. my favorite track had been every line of a long moment, but at some point i think that got slightly edged out by my secret is my silence. both can be heard at the myspace page. my only regret is that i imagine i won't get to hear any of this album played live in the states.
2. south website / myspace -
loria turned us on to south last year, but it wasn't until i saw them live in april that they started to stick in my head beyond two songs (place in displacement and loosen your hold). but by the time october came round, south basically took over my life. ;P well, not quite. saw them once in april, three times in a week in october, and am thoroughly addicted. south is an incredibly versatile band, both in their material and each individual (they're all multi-instrumentalists), and the live experience is superb. plus, they're so bloody nice. i highly recommend their latest release, up close and personal as an intro to their music. everyone should be listening to these guys. everyone. what are you doing just sitting there? at least put them on in the background while you keep reading this entry. 3. the boy lacks patience website / myspace - last year my excitement was based on one song and two clips. early this year he released an album, which promptly made its way onto my ipod, my nighttime playlist (where it's stayed all year), and generally infiltrated my daily life. since mid-november (of *this* year), i've apparently played christopher john 159 times, for example. go to his website yourself and you can hear his lovely vocals, piano/keyboards, and strings in the background as well as a sweet backing vocalist. the boy lacks patience's songs are heavily influenced by a love of musicals. i've been addicted all year.
4. snow patrol website / myspace - i already liked snow patrol quite a bit. with the release of eyes open, i liked them even more. we had tickets to see them in june, but the show was postponed due to gary lightbody's problems with nodules. in the meantime, snow patrol was showing up everywhere. tv shows, movie soundtracks, and the like. the show was rescheduled for september, and it was worth the wait. i admit to being slightly sad that they've hit it so big, but they deserve the success.
5. margot and the nuclear so-and-sos website / myspace - this eight-member band from indiana opened for south in april. i was surprised by how much i liked them. guitars, two percussionists, keyboards, a cello, bass, and trumpet. their stuff is fantastic, and they deserve more attention. two of my favorites can be heard on their myspace: skeleton key and quiet as a mouse.
6. final fantasy (owen pallet) - myspace - i was reeled in by his covers of bloc party's this modern love and joanna newsom's peach, plum, pear. owen pallet is a violinist who played with arcade fire. he makes excellent use of looping in order to layer his solo playing. the result is lush, lush strings, and i'm pleasantly amused by his earnest vocals. i'm also in love with this is the dream of win and regine. he needs to do more. more, more, more. live video: this modern love
7. damien rice website / myspace - ok, damien snuck up on me. my boss lent me o two years ago, but for whatever reason it didn't take and i promptly forgot it. in november or so i downloaded damien covering radiohead's creep, and liked it. and then i downloaded snow patrol's gary lightbody covering damien's the blower's daughter and liked that. in the meantime,
tenar was singing his praises. i checked out a few tracks from his recent release, 9, and ran out and bought it. and now i'm obsessed with it. for some reason he's stocked in folk, but again we've got someone who's quite a bit harder than that in most cases. a fantastic singer-songwriter, and i'm kicking myself for not going to see him live recently. my current song obsessions: coconut skins, rootless tree, me, my yoke, and i and 9 crimes. also, i'm currently enraptured by how different and yet interchangeable rootless tree and 9 crimes are. so. yes. my end of the year music obsession.8. beecake myspace - beecake is the band billy boyd is in. i probably don't have to say more than that. ;) that being said, i'll be honest and say that if it weren't for billy boyd's vocals, i probably would never have gotten through the first two songs they had listed on myspace. (at the time, that was rip it up and kick the door). however, i really like friends and lovers on its own, and i think there's some promise in there for music i would really like. in fact, i like soul swimming quite a bit too. anyway, i'm excited about this, and i'm hoping they put out an album. go ahead and giggle at me. i don't mind.
honorable mentions go to:
9. r.e.m., who released retrospectivey stuff this year, and who had a few boots i was able to acquire recently. so my love for the old stuff is rekindled and i'm on a fresh r.e.m. kick.
10. the hold steady, who normally wouldn't be my thing, but i really love stuck between stations and modesto is not that sweet. i went to see them with my friend marc and had a good time.
and i'm excited because idlewild (website / myspace) has a new song out (if it takes you home) and there's an album on the way, as well as the poetry/music project ballads of the book. and please, please, please let there be a tour. i need an idlewild tour.
there's plenty of other stuff that i got turned on to, so i'll just list some songs that are currently getting frequent play outside of the folks listed above.
andrew bird - a nervous tic motion of the head to the left
anni rossi - creep (radiohead cover)
broken social scene - anthems for a seventeen year-old girl
tapes 'n tapes - cowbell
patrick wolf - paris
jude - crazy (gnarls barkley cover)
page france - spine
... also, i'm waiting for amplifico to put out their album, which is now something to be excited about for 2007, since it didn't happen in 2006.
